Venezuelans cast votes for president in Louisiana

Adrea Leon holds a sign saying she supports the elections in Venezuela as she boards one of fifty buses traveling to New Orleans from Miami to vote in the Venezuelan election Saturday Oct. 6th, 2012. The Venezuelan government closed the down its consulate in Miami where the largest population of Venezuelans reside in the United States.(AP Photo/Jeffrey M. Boan)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Hundreds of Venezuelans living in the U.S. streamed into New Orleans on Sunday to cast ballots in the presidential election in their homeland, many of them determined to end the 13-year reign of Hugo Chavez.

With the country’s consulate in Miami closed, thousands of Venezuelans traveled by bus, car and plane to cast their votes at the consulate in New Orleans.

Many spent hundreds of dollars and in some cases more than a day of their time. But several said they were determined to make the journey, as opposition to Chavez among Venezuelans living the U.S. runs high.

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Chavez faces a challenge from Henrique Capriles, a 40-year-old former state governor who has pledged solutions to crime, corruption and poorly run public services.

Hundreds were out before dawn in New Orleans, chanting “we want to vote” and singing their national anthem. Cars honked and waved Venezuelan flags out of windows.

“We want freedom,” said Miriam Herrera, from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who took a plane to be in New Orleans to cast her vote. “We want our country back. No more Chavez.”

Freddy Osio drove to New Orleans from Miami with his wife. He said he left Miami on Saturday and stopped only for occasional restroom breaks before arriving in New Orleans at 3 a.m.

“I’m very tired,” said Osio, a Realtor from Miami. “But this is my sacrifice for my country. This is an opportunity to liberate Venezuela. It’s now or never.”

Most Venezuelans in the U.S. are professionals or businesspeople who left their country after Chavez became president in 1999. Most Venezuelan voters in the United States live in the Miami area, and the vast majority of those are critical of the Chavez government.

About 15,800 Venezuelans in the U.S. voted in their country’s December 2006 presidential election, three-quarters of them in Miami. Of the 10,800 Venezuelans voting in Florida, 98 percent cast ballots for the opposition candidate and 2 percent for Chavez. Thirty-four percent of registered voters did not participate, according to figures from Venezuela’s Elections Council.

This time around, people are hopeful, said Marcel Mata, a native of Caracas, Venezuela, who has lived in New Orleans for the past 10 years.

“Everybody feels like there’s change coming, so everybody is really excited,” he said.

Mata has been working with Comando Exterior Venezuela, one of several groups helping to usher U.S.-based Venezuelan voters to New Orleans.

Mata said about 7,000 Venezuelans are expected to be in New Orleans, having arrived in personal cars, on chartered planes and more than 60 buses. Some arrived as early as Wednesday, he said.

Polls opened at 6 a.m. at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, a huge facility just blocks from the Venezuelan consulate office, which was too small to accommodate the voters.

The Venezuelan government closed its Miami mission earlier this year after the State Department expelled consul Livia Acosta amid an investigation into recordings that seemed to implicate her in an Iranian plot for a cyber-attack against the U.S.

The closure affected nearly 20,000 Venezuelan voters living in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina who had registered to vote at the Miami consulate.

“There’s some frustration,” Mata said. “They’re having to take off work and go to such lengths to make this happen, but they’re determined to do it and feel better about themselves as citizens for doing it.”